Alex Bell is making the switch from defensive back to WR

Published 12:19 pm, Friday, August 23, 2013

Lee White's Alex Bell catches a pass and looks to hold off Lee Maroon's Juwan Lee on May 24 in the annual Maroon and White Lee football game. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Lee White's Alex Bell catches a pass and looks to hold off Lee Maroon's Juwan Lee on May 24 in the annual Maroon and White Lee football game. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

Alex Bell is making the switch from defensive back to WR

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The key for Alex Bell -- often a blur at wide receiver -- is slowing down.

Playing fast isn’t hard -- the Lee senior has always played fast, even as a starter at safety last year.

But at times, like when an 8-yard route turns into a 12-yard route, the senior had to be reminded to take his time.

“(Before the spring game), I said, ‘let the game come to you, do your job, play fast but let the game come to you,’” Lee receivers coach Will Murchison said. “He did that in the spring game and you saw the results.”

The result was an electric spring game performance as Bell reeled in two touchdown passes, a 15-yarder and a 60-yarder, and had one, a 61-yard screen pass, called back.

Yet last year, Bell rarely got to flash his talent on the offensive side of the ball as coach James Morton and his staff decided to start Bell in the secondary.

Even then, Bell was eighth on the team in tackles and nabbed the Rebels’ only two interceptions of the season. But Morton said it was still a case of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

“You watch his production (from last year),” Morton said, “(and) I appreciate Alex so much for this, because he sold his soul into playing safety for us.

“But he just wasn’t a true fit.”

On offense, meanwhile, Bell managed to tie for the team lead in receiving touchdowns (2) even with six catches for 97 yards on the season.

Now, Bell is a threat to put up similar numbers in a single game as he and the Rebels are happy he’ll be lining up wide on every possession this season.

“Offense was something I was used to and I’m comfortable at,” Bell said, “so when they told me I was just really happy.”

Of course, there was a transition, and it started with his conditioning, which Bell freely admits was not up to par when he began spring practice.

“When I first started, I was about five routes in and I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” Bell said. “But after a while I just really felt confident, I felt comfortable with conditioning, (it) just felt a lot easier to do.”

Then there was slowing down to polish up on the finer details of playing the position.

Coots said the difference between his route running at the start of offseason last year and at the start of spring was night and day, and Morton said he believes Bell still can get better at his technique.

But his improvement coupled with his natural ability to find the ball in the air has already shot him to the top of the Lee depth chart at the X position.

“It’s just a knack for the ball,” Coots said. “He’s got a nose for the ball, and he’s not scared at all.”

And how can Bell be scared? He only knows how to play the game one way.

And while his coaches still want him to slow down every now and then, Bell said for him, he is just happy to be playing a position that feels natural this season.

“I’m very excited,” Bell said. “I’m just trying to have fun with it, and that’s the key word: fun. I’m not trying to run out here and just run the plays because I have to, I want to enjoy it and make sure I have a good time for my senior year.”